Jarlsberg - Wax Or Not > Leaking Whey

[Schnecken Slayer]

Ok, My very first Jarlsberg is now 6 days old and the surface is dry and starting to darken.

I have read several articles on making Jarlsberg and they all vary in waxing time.
Some say three days, some say three weeks and others so not at all.

I would appreciate some guidance on what you have found succesful.

Cheers,
Bill.

[bbracken677]

I would say it depends, to some extent, on the size of the cheese...once the rind is fairly dry (as yours is) if it is a 2 pound (1 kilo) cheese then you might consider waxing it sooner than a 4 or 5 pounder. The problem with the smaller cheeses is they will dry out entirely much sooner if left too long.

[Schnecken Slayer]

That makes sense, it is about 1 kilo.
Waxing it is!

Thank you.

[Schnecken Slayer]

Looking around the web it seems that a pinch of sodium nitrate helps with a Jarlsberg.

Today the wax has been breached and some whey has leaked out. I guess this is from the bubbles forming in the cheese as it has a split in the top visible through the wax. We have had a couple of warmer days here and that may be the cause.

Do I have to remove the wax and let it re-dry or try and fix the breach?

Ok a web search found the following:

I think in smaller cheeses you have to go for smaller eyes, like you have.  Larger eyes would probably cause the cheese to split.  Now, that being said, I've never made a swiss and I'm just rattling off what I recall being talked about a while back.  I'm sure you've looked into those threads a lot more closely than I, so, I'll stop now.  Looks great though.  And the bread sounds good too.  Yum!

- Jeff

[Schnecken Slayer]

Picture added. Any recommendations/suggestions?









117 looks - no answers?

[bbracken677]

Sorry guy...I have no experience with waxing and with jarlsbergs or swiss at all.

Just as a guess I would think remove the wax, dry and rewax....not sure, other than lard, how you could perform repairs.

[Schnecken Slayer]

Thanks anyway.
I started another thread and received some answers.

I have removed the wax and apart from the cracks it looks and smells great.